Vienna: The Slovenian ski federation says three-time Olympic slalom skier Drago Grubelnik has died after the car he was driving swerved off a mountain road and rolled down a hill in the Austrian resort of Soelden.

The federation says it "has lost an exceptional performer" in the 39-year-old Grubelnik, who was at "the slalom top at the beginning of this millennium."

Austrian media report Grubelnik died yesterday in a hospital in Murnau, Germany, shortly after the incident. Two passengers in the car were hospitalised with unknown injuries.

Grubelnik took part in three Olympic slaloms from 1998-2006, with 13th in 2006 his best result. He reached one World Cup podium, in 2000, and retired seven years later.